The Umbriahas got in years two
appellations: “Italy’s Holy Land” and “Italy’s Green Heart”, both well
merited by this region that, as time passed, has kept in the measure of
man, where ancient traditions are still well alive and they are
reflected in the quality of life, in the genuineness of the products, in
the splendid tracks left in the landscape by history, art and culture.

Its green valleys vary within their harmonious beauty: the large Tiber
Valley; the fertile valley through which the Chiascio and Topino Rivers
flow; the Nera Valley, rich in characteristic corners set in ugged
natural surroundings. But the Umbrian countryside sometimes opens into a
lake (Trasimeno, Piediluco); sometimes it is enlivened by a bold
waterfall (Le Marmore) or by a clear spring (the Clitunno).

Art and Nature, landscape and culture, town and countryside
appear in Umbria in perfect armony.

Umbria has been compared with the Holy Land because, in addition to having
a hilly landscape very similar to that of the land where Jesus was born,
in history it has been bearer of very high religiousness: it is sufficient
to mention Saint Benedict from Norcia, Saint Francis from Assisi, Saint
Rita from Cascia, Saint Clare, Friar Jacopone from Todi, Saint Ubald of
Gubbio.

The religious fervour has left in the
Umbrian land a significative track : it is sufficient to mention Assisi,
Gubbio, Norcia, Cascia, with churches and convents of incomparable beauty,
Spoleto and Orvieto with their wonderful cathedrals. Umbria is among the
first places in Italy for the level of the quality of life: the civil
tradition of the population, its so varied and interesting history, have
created a social environment characterized by a high grade of civility, by
a great spirit of tolerance, by an intelligent and widespread involvement
in the management of common problems.

Everybody knows the Umbrian artistic
towns: Assisi (with masterpieces of Giotto and Cimabue), Spoleto, Orvieto,
Gubbio, Spello, Trevi, Montefalco, Todi e Perugia. This is the Umbria
described by a thousand books and that, thanks to its unicity, is famous
all over the world and it is destination of a tourism in costant increase.
Moreover, there is another Umbria, which appears less frequently in books
but will not fail to fascinate the most attentive visitor: it is the land
of vineyards, live-groves, woods, natural Parks and small towns set on the
top of the hills.

This is also the land of wine shops, that produce the great Umbrian wines,
of oil-mills, that yield the most savoury extra virgin olive-oil, of
valuable truffles, of farms that supply sausages, typical cheeses and
lentils.

The good cooking in Umbria is a tradition and an art based on the quality
and on the genuineness of simple and greatly savoury products. A great
abundance of products due to the richness and to the wide variety of the
lands and of the microclimates of the different areas. Many are the
typical products of Umbrian agricolture, different each other but united
by the care of whom produces them with traditional techniques, handed down
from generations, able to gaurantee undiscussed genuineness and quality.

Umbria is an hilly region, rich in waters, very woody, and its lands are
well fit for the olive cultivation.
The hilly appearance is ideal for
exposing the vine to the sunlight; the wood, instead, offers an
exceptional gastronomic product: the truffle. Mountain areas are rich in
excellent pastures, perfumed of rare essences: from here the development
of the stock-farming and of the production of milk products and cheeses.